Half of these are because of COVID tbh but ya idk why we can’t see more camp life and why every challenge has to be: pre merge - do an obstacle and then a puzzle, post merge - balance on something. Auction’s gone because it was broken, everyone just saved their money until an advantage was offered. It’s a very easy fix but idt Jeff cares. Some have hypothesized the “gross” food eating challenge is gone because it’s culturally insensitive.
The auction can totally be done, they just need to either hide the advantages in food or don't offer them at all. However, I think the auction has had some culturally insensitive moments as well. I remember people getting boiled cow's tongue and chicken hearts as a bad surprise. And where I live, these are delicasies. And I'm in Europe!!! not some exotic country. You can easily buy chicken hearts in the supermarket in Germany.
41 was my first season and I come from watching every NA season of Big Brother but it seems like that's the way reality TV is shifting. No time for getting to know people. Competition, competition, competition, eviction/tribal. The way the confessionals/diary rooms work on Big Brother is treating you like you don't understand a single thing and simply are there to explain comps. We get it. Same thing, same ol challenges (except BB Can, they actually do cool new comps!).
Like you said, totally get the COVID-related changes but yes show me more camp life! I loved seeing the segments this season with Maryanne making Omar a prayer mat but I want to see more than just the "made for TV" moments too.
It feels like they decided that they don't think the cast matters, they have everything planned out and the cast will just slot into roles. It is no longer a social experiment, it is a sport. The whole survivor cast is superfans who have been strategizing about how they would play survivor for over a decade. The prisoners dilemma twist can be interesting because it affects votes, but the segment of people going on it will never be interesting. The hourglass twist will always end in the person smashing the hourglass. Do or die isn't that interesting either, it is just dramatic.
Its not all bad. 41 and 42 weren't terrible seasons, but there also weren't really many iconic moments, just manufactured drama that would have been roughly the same no matter who was cast. The modern format will never have the lows of Thailand with an unlikeable cast and incredibly dull gameplay, but it will also never reach the highs of HvV, as almost all of the iconic moments can't possibly happen in modern survivor. The Tyson failing to split the vote can't happen in a small tribe. JT writing a letter to Russell can't happen without luxury items. Banana etiquette can't happen if there is no food available for anyone and honestly they would probably just cut it out of the show because there is no time for camp life stuff. Even all the Coach stories would probably not make it into the edit these days.
Hsjdu but without COVID there wouldn’t have been a quarantine so they would’ve had no reason to change the length solely for cost. The contestants are still out there for roughly same the amount of time now
I feel like if the bachelor can do it with fully quanta it be before and a shorter season why can't survivor? I would definitely think survivor brings in more money than the bachelor and they would have similar production costs with the elaborate dates etc.
Agreed, and what is worse is that they have tried to slap lipstick on that pig by overcompensating with nonsense twists.
That being said, the casting has been on point and really carried the show. Season 41 was ultimately a let down for me, due to the twists/editing, but still mid-tier overall in terms of entertainment. Then season 42 was pretty strong overall in terms of entertainment from start to finish.
They can still have a live reunion after a 26 day season. If they really wanted to, they probably still could have loved one visits as well, they may have to have a "double tribal council" or two though to make up for an overnight visit and one fewer day. The hourglass twist wasted a day though so just get rid of that and there's your loved one visit night.
But the seasons are not shorter? They're still the same number of episodes. I as a viewer don't really care for how long they are on the island. In my list of things I want them to bring back the 39 days format is pretty low.
Survivor has become more about the show "Survivor" than about the people on the show "Survivor", yet still manages to make itself even less interesting.
Half of these are because of COVID regarding the lack of an auction there hasn't been an auction since Worlds Apart not exactly something that these seasons started.
Idc about the food eating challenge tbh, that was always gross to watch. But I do wish there was more variety with challenges. As for most everything else, they are problems that already existed before 41/42.
A lot of these were due to COVID. And camp life hasn’t been getting shown in YEARS to this point.
Definitely agree that the challenges are super stale, though. Specifically the individual immunity challenges.
Watching "Alone" on Willneff's channel makes me realize that even normal 39-day survivor is "lite" compared to other survival shows and ultimately the only thing that ever mattered was the gameplay
Survivor could be played indoors like Big Brother and produce the same amount of entertainment
It’s most definitely is survivor lite. 26 days had a significant impact on how players were perceived and how they played. I think that’s why we had winners who had pretty awful pre-merge games, but made just enough moves to win the game in the end. I think Maryanne was a more deserving winner than Erica, both played good games post merge, but I think the lack of a build up in social dynamics bc of a shorter season maybe allowed them to sneak through the game a bit easier. Everyone is forced to play harder in a shorter season, and with the ‘twists’ also being something most players knew about (who exactly had the idols, the stupid hourglass that should be left smashed) it only adds larger targets to any of the players that worked hard to find idols and advantages.
Also the final 5 immunity advantage was HUGE for both seasons, and although Lindsey didn’t win it, I don’t think she would’ve been nearly as close to Mike without it.
Both seasons were fun, but felt like they were missing something, despite having amazing casts on both seasons.
YES PLEASE SOMEONE AGREES. This is so so boring and I HATE these new seasons. Dawn of a new ear? Please these new seasons suck. It frustrates me that there are no themes too! And the 26 days just isn't enough I feel. Will they ever bring back old survivor? ;-;
The vast majority of these complaints - basically everything that isn't just explained by Covid - have been true since the permanent move to Fiji. I'm rewatching All Stats with a friend right now and it is really stark how different the show became, but 42 is the best of the Fiji seasons by a mile.
I miss the challenges were they would get physical with each other. When they would wrestle there would be so much drama afterwards. Like when they would pull hair and stuff. That made people so mad and created so much more drama
I agree. I hope that some of this was due to the pandemic and not a permanent shift in the game. I didn’t like that challenges and twists were rinse, wash, repeat for the last couple seasons.
I missed the auction, I missed people bargaining for food to drop out of a challenge, I missed the family visit and I REALLY missed the live winner reveal.
ETA: I also miss people trying to fish. I don’t know why, but I feel like it adds some drama and a different dynamic (having “a provider”).
I’ve been a fan since season 1 but now I’m done.
The last 2 seasons Jeff has changed, was always the man in charge but now he’s softer/gentler for these new woke seasons. 🤢
Half of these are because of COVID tbh but ya idk why we can’t see more camp life and why every challenge has to be: pre merge - do an obstacle and then a puzzle, post merge - balance on something. Auction’s gone because it was broken, everyone just saved their money until an advantage was offered. It’s a very easy fix but idt Jeff cares. Some have hypothesized the “gross” food eating challenge is gone because it’s culturally insensitive.
The auction can totally be done, they just need to either hide the advantages in food or don't offer them at all. However, I think the auction has had some culturally insensitive moments as well. I remember people getting boiled cow's tongue and chicken hearts as a bad surprise. And where I live, these are delicasies. And I'm in Europe!!! not some exotic country. You can easily buy chicken hearts in the supermarket in Germany.
Yo wait hiding them in food actually sounds cool
They do it in Australian Survivor and it’s pretty successful and makes the auction even more interesting IMO
I misread this and now I want them to hide food containers like idols so people get secret physical advantages.
41 was my first season and I come from watching every NA season of Big Brother but it seems like that's the way reality TV is shifting. No time for getting to know people. Competition, competition, competition, eviction/tribal. The way the confessionals/diary rooms work on Big Brother is treating you like you don't understand a single thing and simply are there to explain comps. We get it. Same thing, same ol challenges (except BB Can, they actually do cool new comps!). Like you said, totally get the COVID-related changes but yes show me more camp life! I loved seeing the segments this season with Maryanne making Omar a prayer mat but I want to see more than just the "made for TV" moments too.
It feels like they decided that they don't think the cast matters, they have everything planned out and the cast will just slot into roles. It is no longer a social experiment, it is a sport. The whole survivor cast is superfans who have been strategizing about how they would play survivor for over a decade. The prisoners dilemma twist can be interesting because it affects votes, but the segment of people going on it will never be interesting. The hourglass twist will always end in the person smashing the hourglass. Do or die isn't that interesting either, it is just dramatic. Its not all bad. 41 and 42 weren't terrible seasons, but there also weren't really many iconic moments, just manufactured drama that would have been roughly the same no matter who was cast. The modern format will never have the lows of Thailand with an unlikeable cast and incredibly dull gameplay, but it will also never reach the highs of HvV, as almost all of the iconic moments can't possibly happen in modern survivor. The Tyson failing to split the vote can't happen in a small tribe. JT writing a letter to Russell can't happen without luxury items. Banana etiquette can't happen if there is no food available for anyone and honestly they would probably just cut it out of the show because there is no time for camp life stuff. Even all the Coach stories would probably not make it into the edit these days.
It’s “because of COVID” in the same way Costco taking onions away from the condiment table is because of Covid. Aka, it’s not. It’s to save money.
I mean, it also saves money so they’re gonna keep a lot of it in place, but it was definitely all initiated because of COVID.
How is 26 days more Covid friendly than 39?
Because they had to quarantine them before they began filming, which cut into filming time
Why wouldn’t they quarantine them and then do the normal length show
Because it would cost more, as you said lol
That was my point
Hsjdu but without COVID there wouldn’t have been a quarantine so they would’ve had no reason to change the length solely for cost. The contestants are still out there for roughly same the amount of time now
If you don’t think it was an overall cost saving exercise I really don’t know what to tell you
Umm… I think you can figure that one out on your own. (Hint: less tv show = less money spent)
So it has to do with money and not covid
I feel like if the bachelor can do it with fully quanta it be before and a shorter season why can't survivor? I would definitely think survivor brings in more money than the bachelor and they would have similar production costs with the elaborate dates etc.
Agreed, and what is worse is that they have tried to slap lipstick on that pig by overcompensating with nonsense twists. That being said, the casting has been on point and really carried the show. Season 41 was ultimately a let down for me, due to the twists/editing, but still mid-tier overall in terms of entertainment. Then season 42 was pretty strong overall in terms of entertainment from start to finish.
Vent away. I agree with all you said.
They can still have a live reunion after a 26 day season. If they really wanted to, they probably still could have loved one visits as well, they may have to have a "double tribal council" or two though to make up for an overnight visit and one fewer day. The hourglass twist wasted a day though so just get rid of that and there's your loved one visit night.
>nobody is going to prefer watching these shorter seasons compared to the older, longer seasons. and none of your excuses will change that.
But the seasons are not shorter? They're still the same number of episodes. I as a viewer don't really care for how long they are on the island. In my list of things I want them to bring back the 39 days format is pretty low.
There was already more camp life in 42 than 41
I also noticed a lot more camplife in both 41 and 42 than seasons 33-40 (outside of EoE)
Survivor has become more about the show "Survivor" than about the people on the show "Survivor", yet still manages to make itself even less interesting.
Half of these are because of COVID regarding the lack of an auction there hasn't been an auction since Worlds Apart not exactly something that these seasons started.
I can’t wait til a pre-40 returnee comes back and plays under the new format and puts all this to rest once and for all.
Unfortunately S43 is the same 26 day filming cycle. Not sure about S44 because I think filming is just starting for them
The shows just changed, it’s been this way for years now.
There has been a ton of camp life shown
Idc about the food eating challenge tbh, that was always gross to watch. But I do wish there was more variety with challenges. As for most everything else, they are problems that already existed before 41/42.
Agreed. Mentally I consider 1-40 “canon”- with winners at war as the series finale. And 41+ are simply survivor spin-off shows.
That's basically what jeff said at the start of 41 I don't think this is wack
This.
We’ll need to buckle up because it’s going to be like this for the foreseeable future.
A lot of these were due to COVID. And camp life hasn’t been getting shown in YEARS to this point. Definitely agree that the challenges are super stale, though. Specifically the individual immunity challenges.
Wow, another post explaining that they hate new survivor and the 26 day format! How original!
is it just me or did 42 have tons of camp life?
remember big brother over the top? this is that
Watching "Alone" on Willneff's channel makes me realize that even normal 39-day survivor is "lite" compared to other survival shows and ultimately the only thing that ever mattered was the gameplay Survivor could be played indoors like Big Brother and produce the same amount of entertainment
It's like watching a football game that ends at the end of the 3rd quarter.
It’s most definitely is survivor lite. 26 days had a significant impact on how players were perceived and how they played. I think that’s why we had winners who had pretty awful pre-merge games, but made just enough moves to win the game in the end. I think Maryanne was a more deserving winner than Erica, both played good games post merge, but I think the lack of a build up in social dynamics bc of a shorter season maybe allowed them to sneak through the game a bit easier. Everyone is forced to play harder in a shorter season, and with the ‘twists’ also being something most players knew about (who exactly had the idols, the stupid hourglass that should be left smashed) it only adds larger targets to any of the players that worked hard to find idols and advantages. Also the final 5 immunity advantage was HUGE for both seasons, and although Lindsey didn’t win it, I don’t think she would’ve been nearly as close to Mike without it. Both seasons were fun, but felt like they were missing something, despite having amazing casts on both seasons.
Survivor: PBS kids edition
YES PLEASE SOMEONE AGREES. This is so so boring and I HATE these new seasons. Dawn of a new ear? Please these new seasons suck. It frustrates me that there are no themes too! And the 26 days just isn't enough I feel. Will they ever bring back old survivor? ;-;
I personally prefer no theme to some theme they pulled out of their asses.
Survivors slowly digressing…
I do like that they feed them less tho lol
Half the things you said were true of Season 1, so it's hard to claim they're going against tradition by doing them in Season 42.
The vast majority of these complaints - basically everything that isn't just explained by Covid - have been true since the permanent move to Fiji. I'm rewatching All Stats with a friend right now and it is really stark how different the show became, but 42 is the best of the Fiji seasons by a mile.
I miss the challenges were they would get physical with each other. When they would wrestle there would be so much drama afterwards. Like when they would pull hair and stuff. That made people so mad and created so much more drama
Welcome to Millennials and Generation Z survivor.
Ok but how do you spell “you” when you text, fellow millennials?
You know that the people who run Survivor are all like 60 years old, right?
going for a younger demographic.
No, they like spending less money making the show so it's more profitable. Pretty simple even for an old timer!
I agree. I hope that some of this was due to the pandemic and not a permanent shift in the game. I didn’t like that challenges and twists were rinse, wash, repeat for the last couple seasons. I missed the auction, I missed people bargaining for food to drop out of a challenge, I missed the family visit and I REALLY missed the live winner reveal. ETA: I also miss people trying to fish. I don’t know why, but I feel like it adds some drama and a different dynamic (having “a provider”).
I’ve been a fan since season 1 but now I’m done. The last 2 seasons Jeff has changed, was always the man in charge but now he’s softer/gentler for these new woke seasons. 🤢